After a successful launch last season in select European resorts, outdoor mapping company, FATMAP, have dramatically increased the number of ski maps they offer visitors to major resorts in the US, Canada, France, Italy, Switzerland and Austria. See fatmap.com for a full list.
Every map will now be available to download for free with the option to upgrade to premium for extra features.
"We're reimagining ski maps," says cofounder Misha Gopaul, "and our mission this season is to get these new maps to as many skiers as possible". Until now, skiers who stick to the piste have only been able to turn to the piste map for inresort navigation, with more advanced skiers still using old methods such as contour maps and guide books.
FATMAP - Mobile 3D Ski Maps - Now available across North America and Europe from FATMAP on Vimeo.
With the combination of 3D mobile technology and a growing community of experts and ambassadors, FATMAP is creating the most powerful ski maps available, capable of calculating terrain information instantly and providing fresh and uptodate 'guidebook' style information straight to your phone. "With FATMAP you can know the area like a local on day one," says Gopaul.
The maps show skiers and snowboarders a model of the realworld, a onetoone map. This allows for a complete view over the entire landscape of a resort both from a distance and in ‘skier view’ where you can explore the resort and its liftaccessed offpiste in virtual reality.
With this level of detail and information, FATMAP provides skiers with the tools to make better decisions and explore the mountains with confidence. This is all achieved by using the very latest ultra highresolution stereoscopic satellite imagery that is used to produce 3D models of the terrain. These models are supplemented with a vast amount of expert content to turn them into contextsensitive 'live' maps.
The information in the maps is gathered and curated by FATMAP using a community of inresort experts and local mountain professionals. The company is recruiting more content contributors and ambassadors in each resort to ensure each map is the most up-to-date resource available. Many of the resorts are also partnering with the startup company to help give their visitors a better and safer experience. Details of the company's community can be found at fatmap.com
"Our maps are not built in isolation,” says Marketing Director, Adam Robinson, “but involve the entire ski community – from brands, to resorts, locals, and everyday skiers – to ensure we can produce the best maps possible."
This winter FATMAP will provide a free version of every ski map as well as offering a subscription plan for access to premium features and content, costing £9.99 for a two-week period or £25.99 for a year.
The new set of 25 resort maps will be available to download from December 2015 on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, with more planned throughout the 2015/16 Winter season.
FATMAP’s new movie For Every Adventure is due to be released January 14th, 2016. Click here to view
